Ace of Gallifrey and CourtneyRBowman thanks so much for reading the first chapter here is the second. I hope you like….
"What on earth?" Madame Giry nearly scared Erik out of his skin shouting at him, standing behind him. "The nerve. I am just glad she did not get a hold of it before I did!" She shook one of his envelopes at his face.
"What is this about, Antoinette?" Erik's voice had the same velvety tone that she had always known; calm- almost soothing. He stood up and took the letter from her, and having glanced at it briefly, he put it to one of his candles and burned it. Before it caught his hand he through it into the lake. Hands her hips Antoinette demanded an explanation. Erik put his hands up gesturing to calm her down.
"I won't do it again…"
"'Won't do it again'? Hmm? What in the world do you mean by sending a threatening note to my daughter? My daughter." The last that she said was nothing more than a breath. Placing her hand on her heart, she sat down on his organ bench. He sat beside her. He put his head in his hands.
"I wasn't… I didn't…" Madame Giry sighed, seeing the pitiful man was merely confused.
"Erik, when will you get in your right mind? Christine is gone. She will not come back. Are you ready to accept that?" She questioned. He lifted his face and turned it to her.
"I don't know. I don't know anything."
"Erik, don't be ridiculous, you are the most well-informed man I know to live under the opera house…" She said.
"I am the only man you know to live under here." He smiled at her, and it lifted her hopes, but then he frowned again breathing heavily.
"Antoinette, for ten years I had been living for this child; wanting to please her; needing her to love me. And now she is gone. What have I to live for now?" He stood up and walked over to the paintings and sketches he made of her.
"Move on. Start afresh."
"Do you think that is simple?" He asked, his voice rising to dangerous heights. "Do you think I can stop loving her?"
"So writing my daughter was your excuse of sorts. You wanted to tell her to remove herself from this opera because of what Christine did to you? Well, let me make one thing clear; no matter what you think Christine did to you- my daughter stays out of it." There was a firm tone in her voice, and Erik knew that he should obey her if he valued his life. But did he? Perhaps after Antoinette left, he would do her and everyone else a favour, and take it. But would that be a favour? Maybe it wouldn't even make a difference. No one cared weather he lived or died.
"I won't send her any letters, speak to her, or lay a finger on her. You have my word." He said solemnly. Antoinette looked skeptical, but nodded and walked back up and out of his dungeon.
Erik fumbled about; feeling like he was intoxicated and he took one of his Punjab lassos. He only used this to knock people out when they were in the way, but now he thought he would put it to good use. He stepped into the cold, murky lake water which surrounded him and put the lasso loosely around his neck. "He came into the world and left it behind; having never been loved." He said morbidly.
Meg Giry tied her ballet shoes and went to do her stretches on the stage.
"Where is your mother, Meg? We have been stretching for hours, shouldn't we begin the rehearsal?" Crow nest haired Lolita asked. Meg sighed.
"I will go look for her." She replied. She went to her mother's room and rapped on the door. "Mama?" She called softly. She heard her mother gasp. What is going on in there? There was a drawn out silence, and Meg knocked again. No answer. Having lost her patience she opened the door and peeked inside. She was just in time to catch a glimpse of her mother moving aside her book case revealing a passageway. Meg was not surprised; she caught her doing things like this a lot. But she never questioned her mother; she figured her business was her own.
However Meg couldn't stand it, she had to see what she was up to. She watched as her mother lit a candelabra and walk into the mysterious passage and then she ran, light as a mouse on her feet, over and through the book case just before the entrance closed again. She leaned over and saw her mother walking into a black abyss, and turning a corner, she softly followed behind. Where were their tracks to take them?
Just as Erik was about to tighten the noose to strangle himself, a small voice called out from the shadows, "Stop!" He turned to see a petite female form emerge. He was surprised beyond his wits. It was Meg.
After hearing the heated conversation of her mother and the 'Opera Ghost' Meg watched as her mother left the scene. Was this the man that she always spotted in the shadows during rehearsals or a performance? Was this the one who owned the mask that she found so many months before? Was he the one who kidnapped her dear friend Christine? She now thought these questions may never be answered for he had taken a noose and appeared to be ready to take his life. He was saying something and she was buried knee deep in her thoughts, that she only caught the last part of what he said, "..Having never been loved."
"Stop!" She shouted running over to him. She tugged at the noose and pulled it off over his head. "You foolish man! Are you trying to kill yourself?" She wanted to slap her face; what an idiotic question.
"Leave from here, Little Giry. I'm not even supposed to speak to you." Suddenly, his eyes swelled up with tears. "Let me be."
"What so that you can kill yourself? Never!" He fumbled around like a drunkard and walked out of the water and plopped down onto a grand swan bed. She ran over and sat on the bed, not even thinking that she did not know this man at all. She put her hand to his head. "You're ill, Monsieur." She said.
Erik looked up seeing nothing but a blur of blonde hair and the brown eyes of Meg Giry.
